Out of the mouths of babes--November

The end of another month already? Here ya go.

11/5--At school W said about one of her classmates, "Oh, yes, Michael and I could be brother and sister because we are both so beautiful."

11/14--I was on the computer today and Whit was in the office with me. She said, "I'm going to start working out today. I want to be strong like Daddy." How cute is that? She dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.

11/15--W was watching a movie with some scary creature and I asked her, "What is that guy called?" Her answer was clever: "I don't know. [pause] Well, his name isn't 'I don't know.' I just really don't know his name."

Witty AND fashionable

Caroline wants to follow in her footsteps

and can't wait for her hair to grow in.

11/15--Here are the types of things that Brandon thinks about when he's in the bath: I wish I could make my own "Mythbusters." I would get a motor boat and put it in a pool. Then I'd take a dummy and nail and screw it to the rudder. Then I'd turn on the boat and see if he could hold on to the rudder. Man, I wish I could do that. Can that be my science fair experiment? Or what about mentos and coke? I want to figure out how that works.

Always scheming up something

11/16--We attended a baptism at church today. I played the piano and Whit was sitting with Megan, who was a faithful sideline reporter and shared these gems with me.
"Maybe when I'm 18, I can read."
"I like Primary because it's fun and special."
And the kicker: "I can tighten up my brain," as she proceeded to go red-faced with exertion.

11/16--W has apparently built up some inner little-girl angst because twice when she was annoyed, she has asked, "Do you think I'm a jerk?" in a very confrontative voice. Yikes.

Don't get on her bad side!

11/19--For W's Thanksgiving feast, they made gratitude placemats. Here are some of the things she was thankful for:
Spaghetti
The sky
When my family goes fun places
Mommy, Daddy, Brandon, and I love Caroline so much!
Purple, pink, and red
Giraffes because their necks are high

I'M grateful for these three.

11/21--Andrew and I went to Jeremy's "Rock Band" birthday party tonight and we dressed like rock stars. Or at least I thought I did. When Brandon saw me he said, "Yea, you kinda look like a rock star....and ya kinda look like an idiot." Ouch. Whitney was in the other room and when she saw me she said, "You look like a disaster." When I told her that wasn't a nice thing to say to her mom, she said, "I meant a GOOD disaster." Oh, of course you did.

Even if they were right, they're
not supposed to say it!

Caroline didn't want to be left out.
(This is what happened when I asked
B and W to watch her for five minutes.)

11/22--Whit will go through phases where she just loves to throw out compliments all day. It's great for the ego. But sometimes the comments leave us scratching our heads. Today she told Andrew, "Daddy, you're nice...and not ugly." Ok.

11/30--I started making dinner tonight before I realized that my recipe required milk...and we're all out. So, I improvised and came up with something else. When I brought it to the table I gave my disclaimer, "I hope this is good, but we were out of milk, so I had to make do." I guess the kids are not familiar with that expression. After we blessed the food, she lifted her plate and said, "I want some 'do'."

Parting shots

Two different friends had commented about
their hubbies falling asleep on the couch
with the kids recently. That never happens
around here. Brandon hardly ever sleeps!
But, Caroline and I were gone all afternoon
and this is what we came home to:

How sweet!


And here are Brandon's random photos for the month:

Just for laughs

Here are a couple video clips that cracked me up this week.

Grandpa Hiatt put together this hill-air-ee-us little movie for us. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Click here to see us shaking our elf booties. (It takes a minute to load. I was too cheap to buy the download.) Now I know what Caroline will look like when she's 16!

I don't watch Family Guy, but my brother Paul saw this on a friend's blog and shared it with me. Don't worry, it's rated G.



Every mom has been here, right?

What a week!

**UPDATE: I don't have pink eye. Woo hoo! I have a scratched cornea. Apparently it's fairly common among contact lens wearers. I've worn them for almost 20 years now and this is my first experience. I get to wear glasses for the next several days while it heals. Lucky me.**

Is it Friday yet?

Here are some of the happenings around our house in the past seven days:

*Brandon had to get his first filling. He has enamel hypoplasia on his permanent first molars. Basically, something went wrong when they were forming and they are falling apart already even though they erupted fairly recently and he has never had a cavity on his baby teeth. (Mr. Unbreakable has an Achilles' Heal..or Tooth.) He was really brave for the dentist and saved us a hundred bucks by going without laughing gas. We owe ya, buddy.

*Whitney had a strange rash start on her face and spread down her neck. Took her the doctor immediately after B's dentist appt. (Yes, me and my three kids spent a total of 2 hrs and 45 min in dr's offices on the same day. NOT their idea of a fun time. Or mine.) She was diagnosed with contact dermatitis as a result of either poison oak or poison sumac, most probably. What??? How did she get that when the weather has been FREEZING here and we've spent most of our time indoors. Sounds fishy. She was prescribed a cream that is slowly helping. (If you click on the pic below, you can see the red patches on her neck. The spots on her face aren't as obvious. It helps that she has crumbs around her mouth.)

*Caroline SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT for the first time ever on Monday night. I guess waiting around in those dr's lobbies wore her out. It was heavenly to wake up with a rested body. I've missed that feeling. Tuesday night she woke up a couple of times and last night she slept clear through from 8:30 pm-6 am. Hallelujah!

*I attended Whit's Thanksgiving Feast at her preschool. It's a cute tradition and a great appetizer for the real deal next week.

Pocahontas and me

*Andrew had Stake meetings on Tues night and normal Bishopy stuff last night. And I'm going out with some girlfriends tonight. We pass each other walking through the house every once in a while. (And we have a babysitter scheduled for tomorrow night. Yippee!)

*Andrew and I were both sick over the weekend with flu-like symptoms (even though we both got our flu shots already). We had achy bodies and fevers, but they only lasted about 24 hours. Weird. Even though the really bad sick part is over, I'm still not feeling quite like myself. And my eye is all red, thus the glasses in the previous pic. I'm going to the doc this afternoon. What's another 45 min in a waiting room?

*We celebrated Andrew's 34th birthday.

He's officially hit the MID-thirties.

We got some steaks but the weather was NOT cooperating, so we backed his car out of the garage and BBQ'd in there. I ate a veggie burger, but the kids and Andrew raved over the steak. Poor meat-deprived family of mine.

Before I know it, it'll be Christmas. Hope everyone else has spent less time in doctor's offices.

Do my kids know me?

I got to pick the Whitney's and Brandon's brains to find out what they really think about me. I saw this quiz on Megan's blog and wanted to see what my munchkins had to say.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
W: Good night.
B: Please clean up your room.


2. What makes mom happy?
W: When I kiss her and when I give her hugs.
B: Helping her.

3. What makes mom sad?
W: When I don't listen to her.
B: Arguing.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
W: When she does funny things like snorts like a pig.
B: By tooting.

5. What was your mom like as a kid?
W: I forgot.
B: I have no idea.

6. How old is your mom?
W: 30
B: 31



7. How tall is your mom?
W: Super tall
B: Five nine. Not fifty-nine inches. Five foot nine.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
W: Play on the computer
B: Go on dates with Daddy.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
W: She goes to the store and she stays home when I'm at school. She cooks dinner.
B: Doing stuff on her blog. Sort laundry. Play with Caroline and Whitney. Read books. Oh, and sleeping.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
W: I have no idea.
B: Playing the piano.



11. What is your mom really good at?
W: Singing and playing the piano.
B: Playing the piano.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
W: "Bawking" like a chicken.
B: Keeping track of time.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
W: Do laundry.
B: Work around the house.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
W: Oranges. Shrimp.
B: Cheesecake.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
W: When she does the laundry fast.
B: Her being nice.



16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
W: June from Little Einsteins
B: Candace from Phineas and Ferb

Me, June, Candace
I think Whitney might be on to something.
Whaddya think?

17. What do you and your mom do together?
W: We go to church together and we go the store together and we drive in the car together.
B: Play games.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
W: We both have long hair.
B: We're the same in hair. That's pretty much the only thing.

19. How are you and your mom different?
W: We have different voices.
B: Eye color.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
W: Because I just know you do.
B: You do nice things for me and you do fun things with me.


They were surprisingly accurate on most of their answers. I didn't realize how much I do laundry. They must think I'm doing it all the time.

Twilight quiz

In honor of TWILIGHT THE MOVIE coming out next week, I took this Twilight quiz to find out which vampire I am most like.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I was kinda surprised to find out I'm an Esme. Huh.

"You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things."

Yikes--do I really have a great capacity to hurt???

Fellow Twilight fans, I'd love to hear your results if you take the quiz.

Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm a big nerd.

Did ya miss me?

So sorry for the long blog absence. I've missed blogging. Grandma Cuca came into town to visit. She was with us all last week. We have so much fun when she's around. We play lots of Skip-Bo and Rummy, eat lots of good homemade Mexican food, and gorge ourselves on ice cream every night. What a life!

Andrew and I snuck away one night for a date. We had a good time, but it got cut short because Caroline woke up when she was supposed to already be down for the night. Dang. And to make it worse, her bedroom door had somehow been locked from the inside so Grandma couldn't get to her. What a helpless feeling! Thankfully, she figured out how to break in before Andrew and I got home. But Caroline was kinda traumatized by then.

And Grandma and I snuck away another night for cheesecake. Mmmm...

Amazingly, I didn't gain a pound over the course of her visit. And I've been keeping close track as I try to shed the last of my baby fat.

Here are a couple pics from our visit with Grandma Cuca.

She's not supposed to lift over 10 pounds
because of her back. Little chunker Caroline
weighs 16. I argued with her for the first
three days, "Don't pick up the baby!"
After that I gave up.

Grandma has a special spot in her heart
for Miss Whitney.

We had gorgeous weather while she
was here and enjoyed a picnic at the park
one afternoon. Caroline has already grown fond
of the swings. Wheee!

On Saturday, all of us drove down to Georgia to visit with my little bro, his wife, son and the guest of honor, their adorable new baby girl, Sydney.

It's amazing how quickly I forgot
how small they are when they're first born.
She was like a little doll.
With a FULL head of hair.

Caroline looked like a GIANT next to Sydney.

She's not used to seeing people smaller than her.
I think Caroline thought Sydney was a new toy.
Watch out!

My parents were in town visiting, too.

Here they are with all five of their grandkids.
(Notice B's saggy, baggy socks. I let him pack
his own suitcase and he didn't bring a single
pair of socks. He had to wear Andrew's white
socks to church. D'oh!)

What a bunch of cuties.

Sydney, Carson, Brandon, Caroline, and Whit

It was a great break. Andrew took off Monday and Tuesday and we had a four-day weekend down there. Now it's back to piles of laundry, homework, bills, etc. Thanksgiving will be here soon, right?